In the 15th State Senate seat, Republican councilman Eric Ulrich has been able to pour an obscene amount of money into the race, as State Republicans smell blood in the water in this district. Even though Democrats outnumber Republicans 2 -1, a Republican had held the seat for decades before Democrat Joe Addabbo, Jr. won the seat four years ago. It stretches from Howard Beach to Maspeth, including Ozone Park, Woodhaven, Kew Gardens, Forest Hills and Woodside.

The rampant negative ads, primarily against Addabbo, have added a particular thorny aspect to the race. Our polls show a statistical dead heat, but we see a clear endorsement for Addabbo.

Ulrich is doing a good job as councilman for south Queens. He will be more effective for the community if he spends more time in the City Council. He is also starting a new family and we are not convinced he will be able to spend the time he needs in Albany in order to be effective. We see Eric as having a bright future in politics, but the timing is not right, and we sense that he needs to learn how to play better in the sandbox.

Addabbo, on the other hand, has shown be much more accessible than we originally thought he would. He is comfortable with handling constituents and our reader feedback on his effectiveness is quite high. He is a bully when it comes to fighting hydrofracking and he is better prepared, politically situated and versed in the economics of bringing a convention center and other developments to Queens. He is also better equipped to re-engage the governor on future development at the Aqueduct site.

The 6th Congressional district stretches from Bayside to Ridgewood and includes Maspeth, Glendale, Kew Gardens, Forest Hills, Flushing and Briarwood. We boiled our endorsement down to how well we have seen Grace Meng deal with school and crime issues. She has outstanding hate-crime legislation in the Assembly and is able to find a niche through private – public partnerships in dealing with recent school issues. We see education in this district as the top issue for residents. Meng is a good listener and we see her as being able to bring more federal dollars into the district.

Halloran is indeed doing a nice job as councilman in Bayside. This group of newspapers endorsed him in a hotly contested race three years ago. He has not disappointed, however, we have seen that there are too many people in his district that do not like working on issues with him. He is passionate about the issues of English as the official language and term limits. He is right on track with those issues, but he falls short or our endorsement.

In the 30th Assembly district, Marge Markey is our clear choice to remain in office. The district covers Maspeth, Woodside, Long Island City, Astoria, Middle Village and Sunnyside, and is one of the more diverse areas in Queens. She has made infrastructure a clear priority during her time in office, and our business strips have received more attention since she was chosen to represent them. This is particularly important for the character of our neighborhoods, especially with the proliferation of malls and Internet commerce. She has always had a passion for the impact tourism has on the community, so she has taken on the task of chairing the committee on Parks, Tourism, Arts and Sports Development in the Assembly. We sense others finally seeing how important those issues are to the economy of Queens. Hats off to Marge.

Addabbo does help people find jobs through the job fair every year, contrary to what his opponent ads state. What I would like to know is where does Ulrich get the money from to be on the most expensive form of advertisements? BILLBOARDS ALL OVER THE PLACE?

well you either play ball and have the right people fill your war chest, or you continue to work and live in ozone park and give up politics!

Freedomsquad

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October 25, 2012

Why was Anthony Nunziato not even mentioned as a challenger for Marge Markey? It seems that the news paper is protecting her poor record. Its a shame that we cannot get fair reporting from our corrupt local newspapers. Anthony Nunziato has my vote! I havent seen Marge Markey since 1998. Time for a change!